Dancing in the Treetops
by louder.now
Summary: Missions complicated by unexpected difficulties, friendships tested by changing allegiances, and a romance caught in the midst.
1. Chapter 1: The View From Above

**A/N:** Hey, this is my first fanfic, I hope you all enjoy it. It's for one of my favorite pairings and I'm not sure where I'm going yet, so updates might be few and far between. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thanks.

Also, I would like to thank Fullmetal Catalyst (formerly Cadmos) for looking over this story and helping me decide plot lines and twists and just overall being awesome.

Hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

**Dancing in the Treetops**

Chapter 1: The View From Above

Ty Lee swung through the trees, nimble as a hog monkey. The ground flowed beneath her in a way that would have made most people dizzy, but Ty Lee had been climbing for almost as long as she had been doing gymnastics - and that was a long time. Jumping through the top of the forest was easy for her, and came as naturally as walking did for other people.

Restless, she had gone ahead to scout while her companions, Mai and Azula, made camp. At least, her official reason was scouting. If she was being completely honest with herself, that wasn't the only reason she had left the campsite. She needed time on her own, to think and to just be alone. Much as she loved her friends, Azula and Mai weren't the best company. Mai was like a sister to her, but Ty Lee could only take so much of her dreariness before she had to do something fun. And Azula... Ty Lee had looked up to the princess her entire life, and Azula always awed her with amazing abilities, from her lightning to her composure to her innate talent for intimidation. But as close as she was to Azula, she couldn't forget how Azula treated her sometimes. When the princess's aura got all cold, colder than usual, cold in the way of endless winter, cold like the steel of a blade, Ty Lee was _scared_. Her aura had been that way the night she had watched Ty Lee perform at the circus. Ruthless. Determined. Stopping at nothing to get what she came for.

And Azula had gotten what she wanted. She always did.

A faint light in the distance broke her reverie, and Ty Lee slowed her progress and moved stealthily through the trees. It was unlikely that anyone would see her, but it never hurt to be careful; the Avatar was supposed to be close. A twig snapped below her, and Ty Lee froze. Looking down, she saw the cute warrior boy traveling with the Avatar who she had first seen at the lake. He was gathering firewood and complaining loudly at the same time.

"Why do I have to gather the firewood? Katara could probably just do some water-magic and get the fish to do it for her or something."

Ty Lee, about 20 feet above him, giggled quietly to herself. This boy was cute _and_ funny. Too bad he wasn't from the fire nation, she thought, her imagination sobering momentarily.

The warrior soon finished gathering firewood and Ty Lee was devoid of amusement. She followed him back to the Avatar's camp and soon had the exciting opportunity to watch the group argue about what must be the watch schedule, from what she could tell from the few words the wind carried her way. She took the opportunity to study the Avatar and his companions. For someone with so much power, he certainly didn't look like much. A small boy, with Airbender tattoos visible on his arms and head. But what struck Ty Lee most about him was his aura. It was so... good. Ty Lee didn't consider herself a bad person. But compared to the Avatar, all her mistakes and evils seemed atrocious and unforgivable. Strange. He was talking animatedly to two of his friends, the cute Water Tribe boy and what looked like his sister. The girl had a certain grace about her that Ty Lee envied. She supposed waterbending might give people a flow to their natural movements. However, Ty Lee soon switched focus to the warrior. She couldn't make out the details of his face from here, but she remembered from fighting him at the lake and watching it from the treetops; it was a strong face, very expressive. Ty Lee grinned. This probably wasn't what Azula and Mai had in mind when they heard she was going to scout. Shaking the thoughts of her companions from her head, her gaze moved on to the last member of their group: a little girl in Earth Kingdom garb, sullenly sitting down with her back against the flying bison the Avatar had. Ty Lee smiled, looking at the large creature. It reminded her of her days back at the circus, where she frolicked with huge animals on a daily basis. In a different life, perhaps the she and the bison could have been friends. Ty Lee tried to force those thoughts from her brain. If Azula ever found out...

Glancing at the sun, Ty Lee saw that there was less than an hour of daylight left. She grimaced. It would be hard to find her way back to the campsite in the dark, and Ty Lee suddenly regretted straying so far from her camp. Being bored and comfortable with Azula and Mai would be preferable to sleeping in a tree tonight.

...

Sokka sighed. Aang and Katara just didn't seem to get it.

"Look, you guys," he said. "We've been pursued for a long time. We don't know when those three girls will come up again, or even Zuko! We can't forget about him!"

"You're right, Sokka. We've been pursued for a long time. And during that time, we've _never_ posted watches!" Katara was adamant in her decision. "We all need our sleep," she said, her voice softening. "Even you."

Sokka shook his head. "This could be the difference between saving the world and being captured! Did anyone save the world while they were _sleeping_?" He knew that this was the right thing to do. "I always have trouble getting up. But I will sleep less if it means we have another day to fight."

Aang shrugged. "I don't know, Sokka. If we don't sleep, how will we fight?"

"There's a watch schedule. Each of us will sleep enough. Trust me. My instincts tell me that this will help us."

"And we all know how accurate they've been..." grumbled Katara. But she grudgingly consented.

Sokka looked at Toph, who had been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the conversation. "Don't you have anything to say about this?"

Her response was typical for Toph: short, snippy, and laced with sarcasm. "Well, don't you see _one_ small problem with me being on watch duty? They don't call it watch for nothing, you know."

Slapping his forehead, Sokka apologized. "Right... sorry."

"I'll take first watch!" yelled Aang, his eagerness, as always, unmatched.

...

_Thwack!_ The harsh call reverberated through the tree Ty Lee was sleeping in and brought her to an abrupt awakening. _Thwack! Thwack!_ Shaking her drowsiness away, she looked down. What could it be?

...

_Thwack!_ Sokka hacked again with his machete, trying to break the lower branches of a tree bordering the camp. Finally he succeeded in chopping them off. Sokka settled with his back against the tree and grabbed the nearest stick, using his knife to strip the bark of the twig. Ever since he had made Yue that horrible carved fish he had wished that he was better at it, and had been practicing every chance he could get.

Yue. How he wished she were still here. Sokka had been given the task of protecting her, and he failed. If he'd just been stronger or faster, he might have been able to stop Zhao from taking the moon spirit - stopped Yue from killing herself. Everyone said it wasn't his fault. But Sokka couldn't help thinking that if he'd done more the princess of the Northern Water Tribe would still be here.

Yue. How he missed her. Her beautiful white hair, her soft hands, her blue eyes that made him feel like he was looking into an ocean so deep that he could dive for miles and still not reach the bottom; everything about her had been perfect. And now she was gone.

_Yue_.

...

Her curiosity piqued, Ty Lee swung down below the branch she'd been sleeping on, dangling by her feet. Trusting the darkness to conceal her, she turned toward the source of the noise. It was the cute warrior again! He was sitting by a tree, doing something with his hands. Intrigued, Ty Lee recklessly leaped to another tree, bounced off it and landed on the tree next to the water tribe boy. He looked up, but she was sure he couldn't see her. After a few seconds, he went back to what he was doing.

Now that Ty Lee was closer, she could see he was carving or whittling something. Try as she might, she couldn't make out what it was, so she settled for the next best thing. Relaxing into a sitting position, Ty Lee gazed into the blue-clad warrior's eyes, which were reflecting the moonlight in a most appealing fashion. He really was beautiful...

...

Sokka looked up towards the moon. On nights like these when the moon was full, or so close to being full it was nearly indistinguishable, he could almost feel Yue's presence. The trees rustled and for a moment Sokka thought he saw a flash of pink. _What would something pink be doing in a tree?_ Sokka shrugged. He was probably just imagining it; besides, he had more important things on his mind. Staring up at the glimmering white mass, Sokka's thoughts were of a night months before, in the Northern Water Tribe.

...

Ty Lee was enthralled. She had seen the warrior boy before. She had seen him fight, argue, complain, work, run away, ride on the bison: everything. But she had never seen him like this, so overcome with emotion that it reflected in his aura. So wounded. So vulnerable. Ty Lee leaned in as close as she dared, content to gaze into the Water Tribe boy's eyes forever. She had concerns that needed to be answered, problems that needed to be resolved, missions that needed to be finished. But the acrobat girl let all of that slip away as she took full enjoyment of the view from above.


	2. Chapter 2: A Faint Whirring Noise

**A/N: **Finally! It took way too long, but the next chapter is here. So so so sorry for the long update time. Things have been going on, inspiration has been lacking…but here is Chapter 2. Thanks to all who reviewed, and another thanks to Cadmos (who has gone back to his previous name e.e and appears to be switching between them) who was a really big help yet again.

Enjoy!

**Dancing in the Treetops**

Chapter 2: A Faint Whirring Noise

Ty Lee's entire body ached when the sun's rays warned her to get up. Whose great, wonderful, fantastic idea had it been to sleep in a tree?

Oh. Right. Hers.

She hooked her feet around the branch and hung down backwards, trying to relieve some of the cramps. She closed her eyes. Swinging back and forth was relaxing, at least for Ty Lee, and soon the pain started to fade. Ty Lee gave a contented sigh, before opening her eyes to find another pair staring into hers inquisitively.

She slowly took in the features of the being facing her. Brown and white fur, two long ears, blinking green eyes… where had she seen that before? It let out a loud screech, setting Ty Lee's hairs on end.

"What is it, Momo?" a voice came a girl's voice from a short distance away. Ty Lee froze. The flying lemur did not. Screeching again, it jumped into the air just in time for the Water Tribe girl to come around the corner.

"You," She snarled, drawing water out of her hip pouch and preparing to strike. Ty Lee flipped off the branch and sprinted towards her opponent. If she reached there fast enough she could block the waterbender's chi, stopping her from bending. The distance closed between them.

Just as Ty Lee was about to jab the necessary pressure points, a stream of water rose up between them and pushed her away.

"You won't catch me unprepared this time," sneered the unparalyzed girl. "Try and take my bending away, _circus freak_." Another wave came at Ty Lee, as fast and as furious as the girl sending it. But, as the waterbender mentioned, Ty Lee had been an acrobat. She leapt over the attack and again dove at her opponent. She scored a hit on the tanned girl's hip, but had to make a hasty retreat as glittering icicles cut her off. Ty Lee saw something out of the corner of her eye. Someone must have heard them!

Flipping gracefully, Ty Lee narrowly avoided an air blast. It seemed the Avatar had woken up.

"Katara!" he cried, unleashing another gust of air. Ty Lee vaulted up to a low branch of a tree, dodging the Avatar's strikes effectively, if not easily.

"I'm fine, Aang. Let's get her," said the waterbender, who Ty Lee realized must be Katara, with conviction. Combined strikes of air and water forced Ty Lee back. Duck – jump – dodge – she fell into a rhythm, but the attacks were relentless and she was running out of room. She sprung up a tree and threw herself off it to another one, trying to get a little space.

"What's all this racket?" came a cranky voice from down below. Ty Lee looked down and saw the Earth Kingdom girl standing up and rubbing her eyes.

The next thing she saw was a giant rock headed towards her face. Only her momentum saved her from the flying boulder. She reached off another limb and shot herself at the earthbender. It was a calculated risk. As agile as Ty Lee was, she couldn't evade three types of bending for very long. Her only hope lay in disabling at least one of them.

"Toph! Above you!" the Avatar shouted. But it was too late. Ty Lee plunged her fingers into the blind girl's shoulders, collapsing her immediately. Before she could properly paralyze her target, however, she was knocked off her feet.

The warrior who she had spent so much time admiring last night stood over her menacingly.

"Trying to capture us again, huh? Well, you won't."

Ty Lee rolled away, somehow putting distance between her and her assailant, but he was hot on her heels. She glanced back, glanced forward, and jumped. Luckily for her, the forest surrounding the clearing was dense, and the branches were low. She quickly gained elevation. The shots of air and water were farther away now, and Ty Lee knew she was going to make it.

She slowed down. What was that whirring sound…?

_Thunk_.

…

"That was a nice throw, Sokka," praised Aang with a smile.

"Thanks! I might not be able to control earth or air or water…" he began, looking at his companions and putting on the face that meant there was a simply hilarious joke coming up. "But my boomerang bending is top-notch!" The others groaned as he looked around, grinning.

He sighed. They just didn't understand good humor.

"So we've captured one of the girls chasing us," said Toph. "Now what do we do with her? Let her go and leave? She'll report our position as soon as she gets back to her friends."

Sokka stepped forward. "We should question her. Who knows what information she's got locked in that pink brain of hers? Maybe valuable information about the fire nation!"

"Of course you'd be excited by information," said Katara, rolling her eyes. "But this girl is a serious threat. She can take people's bending away. She's very sneaky and acrobatic. It might be hard to contain her." Katara paused and looked at the rest of the group. "What if we just… got rid of her?"

The others stared at her in horror.

"Not like that!" she exclaimed. "But we could drop her off at a jail or something. I'm sure the Earth King would be happy to have her locked away."

They debated for quite some time. Sokka wanted to question the girl, Katara wanted to jail her, Aang wanted to let her go, and Toph didn't care what the were going to do with her but she was hungry and wasn't it time for breakfast?

"Breakfast?" Sokka asked. "Sounds good to me!" Whatever they decided to do with their acrobatic captive, it could wait. He took a moment to study her. She had brown hair that was braided down her back, and was wearing a pink top and bottom that left her stomach exposed. Her closed eyes gave a peaceful look to a face that was quite pretty. Sokka grimaced. She was from the fire nation, she had attacked them, she was evil. She _was not_ pretty. Or cute. Or anything nice. Besides, he had enough girl trouble, with Yue and the whole Suki situation. He wasn't about to think about other girls. Not after the first girl he kissed had given up her life. Not after Yue. And even if he was, Suki… well, he wasn't sure how he felt about all that.

Sokka turned away. He could grieve later, and perhaps learn about the prisoner, too. But he had more important things on his mind.

"Breakfast really does sound like an amazing idea," he said, with a winning smile directed at Katara. "We can tie up Pinkie over here and question her once she regains consciousness. And I think better with my belly full anyway!"

Katara, in what was becoming quite a familiar gesture to her, rolled her eyes at him. But she acquiesced.

"We might as well eat. She won't be able to answer questions for a while." She moved towards their hostage. "Hand me some rope." Katara tied the girl's hands together behind her back, her feet to a tree, and then, inviting a few questioning glances, tied her neck to a tree as well. Seeing the reaction to her severity, she shrugged. "She's really bendy. Who knows how easily she could escape from this? Better safe than sorry."

Sokka lit up. "She's bendy, right?"

"…yes?" Katara answered, looking at him inquiringly.

Sokka grinned. "She's a bendy-bender!" He chuckled to himself as the others, strangely, did not laugh uproariously. Maybe they didn't understand the pun. He was, after all, the comedy guy in the group. "Get it? _Bendy_-bending? Since she bends her body?" Still no reaction.

Sokka's face drooped in an exaggerated fashion. His companions were doomed to forever roam the world without understanding top comedic material. It wasn't his fault if they didn't know what they were missing.

…

Ty Lee awoke uncomfortably for the second time that day. She frowned. This was becoming a bad habit of hers. Trying to stretch, she discovered that her arms and legs were tied. Ty Lee strained against them. No luck. Not being able to move was a strange sensation, one that the acrobat girl was unused to. Moving was what she did best. She couldn't firebend or throw knives like Mai and Azula, so she jumped and she spinned and she twirled and she fought, somehow, without any weapons or bending. She had spent many hours learning the ins and outs of the human body, learning where to hit, how to hit, and then practicing so she could apply that theory. She could walk on a tightrope like it was a wide-open plain. She could balance on her hands for hours on end.

But Ty Lee had always thought of it in simpler terms. She could move. Very well.

Her captors had about finished their meal. Ty Lee's stomach groaned and she realized she hadn't eaten for over twelve hours – and her last meal had been sparse, so she could scout without having to worry about digestion. Maybe if she asked nicely they would give her something. A hungry girl couldn't answer questions! Assuming they wanted her to answer questions, that is. What if they were going to starve her? Or torture her? Ty Lee imagined what Azula would do if she captured the people she Avatar or his companions. She shuddered and hoped that these people were different.

How had she even been captured? Ty Lee remembered being in a tree, a reasonable distance from the girl named Katara and the Avatar, Aang. There was that sound, that faint whirring noise, almost similar to one of Mai's weapons… oh well. Maybe her questions would be answered when she was interrogated. Although that was the opposite of how most interrogations went.

Across the campsite, she saw the warrior who she had not yet learned the name of stand up. He had something in his hands and he was walking over to her. Ty Lee strained her neck to try and glimpse what he was carrying. It looked like…food! He closed the distance between them and knelt.

"So…hello," he began, looking like he didn't really know how to begin. Ty Lee smiled inwardly. He didn't make a very convincing interrogator. "You're probably hungry." Ty Lee nodded. "I brought you some food," he said gruffly, putting it down before her. Ty Lee nodded again and looked at him expectantly. "What is it?" the disgruntled boy asked, whom Ty Lee guessed wasn't used to being in such close proximity with an enemy without fighting. She wasn't either: the Royal Fire Academy for Girls hadn't prepared her for this. Luckily, being tied up to a tree nullified most of the etiquette problems she might face otherwise.

Ty Lee spoke for the first time. "Surely you don't expect me to eat without my hands!"

The boy flushed. "Right, sorry. I'm not used to this." He started to untie the rope, but then paused and looked at her suspiciously. "And what's to stop you from undoing the rest of the knots and escaping once I release your hands?"

The question hung in the air and the first thing that came into Ty Lee's brain jumped out. "I promise I won't!" She gave him her most innocent look and batted her eyelashes at him. She hadn't been planning to escape, after all. With the Avatar so close, all she would do was invite more pain. The warrior boy, however, was not convinced.

"You promise, huh? Oh, now I feel better!" The biting sarcasm was not doing anything to satisfy Ty Lee's hunger. She needed a way, some way, to convince the warrior that she would not run away – not now at least.

"Please."

All she said was that one word. Ty Lee looked her captor in the eye, trying to make him believe her. The blue eyes that had reflected the moonlight so beautifully softened.

"Alright. But make _one_ move, give me _one_ reason to think you're going to try to escape…" He left the rest of the threat unsaid as he loosened her bonds. Ty Lee slipped her hands free. Reaching eagerly for the bread and fruit in front of her, she also took the opportunity to rub her wrists, trying to get the circulation back into her hands. Those knots were tight.

"Now," said the boy, as her mouth was full of food. "Care to answer some questions?


End file.
